A few thoughts....

Sitting at the home-office (AKA..Living Room, Man Cave, Lair of Doom....) working right now and had a few quick thoughts I felt like posting.  Few means 3 in case you didn't know!

#1:Working from home as a photographer can be both a blessing and a curse.... if you find yourself working too much...curse.  Slacking and playing video games.... curse.  Balancing life perfectly? Blessing.  Most people fall into the curse genre...

#2:You can never have too many images.  Shoot every opportunity you get, and don't pass up on a chance shoot just because you're doubtful of the outcome.  The more images you shoot, the higher the chance of landing great images.  It's simple math.  Even a monkey could land a great shot if he fired enough! Not that you are monkeys... just more food for thought...

#3: No matter how badly you wish for it, that random unexpected million dollar check is not going to show up in the mail (my fingers are still crossed!)  You actually will have to spend time marketing your work, or at least landing an agent to do that part for you.  With the right marketing approach, even photographer's that aren't very good can make a living.  Be a great photographer, and make a living with great marketing!

That's it for now... more thoughts to come.

Yet another Apple IPad photography post for the net.....

I'm not going to bore you by repeating the specs of the IPad and how amazing it is in this post.  Instead, I thought I'd offer a short and sweet list of why I already love the IPad I just got for Christmas, and how I see it being helpful to any photographer.

#1:  It seems like it will be a great way to show a little portfolio to new/potential clients, and will always be current unlike my print portfolios.... which are easy to go WAYY too long without adding new and better images.  Just make sure and keep your galleries concise with your 10-20 BEST EVER images.

#2:  I downloaded a sweet task manager program called To Do.  It was $1 and is replacing my planner and multiple task lists on my desktop.  Gone are the day's of notes all over the place.  I set my due date and time and every morning I will check it to see what MUST get done that day.  Organization at it's finest, and it's easy to bring with me wherever I go.

#3:  Tethered shooting!  I have yet to try this as I don't have a cord, but can't wait to test it out.  Should be a great option for on-location. ( I will post about this once I receive the cord.)

#4:  There is model release software.  This also works on the IPhone and the camera on the phone will take a picture for the release as well.  Soo much better then carrying around a stack of model releases.  The program is called EasyRelease and is accepted by Getty!

#5:  E-mail management anytime, anywhere.  Replying to e-mails on my phone is too much of a pain most of the time due to the small screen for typing.  The IPad is easy to type on, and was very simple to setup with all my e-mail accounts.

#6:  Movies and games.  Ok, so this one is very indirect... But when your on planes traveling to shoots, the entertainment is awesome!

#7:  Battery Life.  It lasts for hours and hours, unlike most laptops (pc's especially...hmm hmm.)



Those are the features I see being most useful to photographers.  As I find more I will update this list.  Now go buy one.  End sales pitch......

Nik Software HDR Efex Pro Reviewed

Over the past several years HDR photography went from a trendy editing style, all the way to a realistic look that allows images to showcase far more detail and dynamic range than ever before.  Programs have been making this process easier all the time, and Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro takes this process to a whole new level.  I was immediately impressed with how quick and simple the program was to use. 

Before HDR Efex Pro, I used PhotoMatix Pro which did a great job of rendering the HDR, but to make the image look good, I had to spend a lot of time in photoshop.  Finally there is a solution that makes this workflow simpler, and more real looking than ever before!

(HDR Image from Moab, UT created from 7 exposures using Nik Software HDR Efex Pro.  Click to Go Bigger)

 (Correct original exposure of scene combined with 6 other exposures to create HDR above.  Click to Go Bigger.)

For an explanation on dynamic range, please skip to the bottom of the article before reading the review.

Here's a great article from PhotoTut's+ that goes in depth for those just learning how to capture HDR images.

Eliminating the specialty work mindset (sell your work to the world!)

I do it, you probably do it, we all do it.  And no, I'm not talking about procrastination, though this does relate (and we all do that as well)!  What I'm talking about is when we don't believe that theres much of a market for the type of work that we do.  I call this the "specialty work mindset".  By definition (which I'm making up right now...) this means that we believe that our work is very niche and only has a very small and certain market.

Action sports photographers find themselves in this niche all the time.  My eyes were first opened wide to what I was doing when I spoke with pro skier Trevor Hiatt.  He explained to me that "the money is outside of the ski industry."  But how can that be?  Here I was thinking the whole time that the only places to sell skiing photos, was to skiing companies, resorts, and ski related magazines.

Camera Basics 101: ISO

ISO is a very basic setting, that should be considered one of the top settings you will need to regularly adjust.  With digital cameras, the ISO pertains to how sensitive the sensor is to light.  The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor will be and the brighter the image.  However, higher ISO's will introduce more noise.  Noise is the added grain that can ruin the sharpness and soften the image.

In the day's of film, ISO pertained to the film's sensitivity.  It used to be that you would have to change a roll of film to get a different sensitivity.

So how do you know which ISO to choose for an image?  Look at your content.

Noisy Image at ISO 3200 captured with Nikon D50

Camera Basics 101- Focusing

This is a new series designed to help teach true beginners how to use their cameras.  For this first lesson, I thought that focus would be a great topic.  For more advanced articles, please use the sidebar on the right, or look at previous articles.

Captured with continuous auto-focus mode.

Certain camera settings will slow down your continuous shooting quantity

If you are a sports shooter, and need to fire-off at 9 fps for any period of time with your new camera, then it is important to know about different modes that will lower the amount of shots at that high frame-rate.  This is noted in the book that came with your camera, but who actually reads every single detail of technical jargon?

Shadow/Highlights Masking with Photoshop CS4

before

after

One of my all time favorite adjustments that I will perform on just about every single image is shadow/highlights.  This is a very simple tool that if used correctly, will yield incredible results.  The most important detail about this tool is that it CAN be overdone.  If you over do highlight recovery, you will lose your true whites, and if you overuse shadows, you will have a halo around the darker spots of your images.  

Skate Denver Shoot

Sunny weather, smelly people(you know who you are...), sessioning features, and sun burns.  These are just some of the aspects that made up the great shoot that I had on Thursday for Cavan Images.


Read more and learn some of my methods to the madness.....................................

Backpack Brag

Heres a quick note that all photographers should remember:

Not only should you tell your athlete/friend/family/model (whoever you want to impress) how heavy your backpack is, you should also have them pick it up and see for themselves.  This makes you look like the badass you truly are for carrying it around.  Maybe tell them about the time you crossed the entire Gobi desert carrying it, with only one bottle of water, and a small bag of trail mix with no problems.  Any variations will suffice, and can only impress.  Laughter will help set the tone of  a shoot, and loosen up the models.  Anything funny or just ridiculous (though the Gobi story is %100 true, trust me.) will be a huge help on a shoot.

Downhill biking photo shoot in Keystone for Cavan Images (Article is below pictures)

The start of a typical day photo shoot involves a lot of preparation. The night before I will make sure all my gear is charged and ready to go, print model releases, pack extras of everything including my camera, gather my bike gear or whatever sporting gear I need for the shoot, and clean my sensor and lenses. On top of that, I have to call up all of the athletes, tell them to wear bright clothes with minimal logos, and explain what I will be aiming for throughout the day. The next morning I wake up early, get a good breakfast (otherwise I won't be able to shoot for long in the morning) and race to the meeting spot with the athletes.

Here is a list of the typical gear I will bring to a day shoot of biking:

- Nikon D300

-(2) Nikon SB-800 Flash Units

-(2) Quantum Turbo 2x2 battery packs

- Nikon 80-200 ED f/2.8

-Nikon 50mm f/1.8 (my favorite lens, sharper than any other)

-Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye

-Nikon 12-24mm f/4 wide angle

-(3) pocketwizards

-Nikon D200 (for backup)

-Several memory cards ranging from 4GB to 16GB (all high-speed)

-Circular Polarizing Filters

-LumiQuest Softbox 3 (close-up lifestyles)

-Extra batteries

-Dakine Sequence Backpack

-Tamrac adventure 9 backpack

When I meet up with the athletes, I let them know that I will be in their faces all day like paparazzi, but to keep their interaction with the lens to a minimum. I want the riders to act like it is just another day of riding. This allows for more realistic lifestyle shots. I shoot from the second I meet with everyone, until the last second we are all together. By doing this I create a story of the day from beginning to end. On this particular shoot I captured a total of 1,075 images! An amazing amount of diverse photos from one shoot!

On a shoot like this I would estimate that I pull my camera out of my pack over 250 times. It's just too risky to ride rocky, steep trails with my gear hanging off my neck. All of that zipping/unzipping sometimes will get to me, but by the end of the day I always have remembered why I love what I do.

Once we reach the top of the lift, the action begins. I ride ahead of the athletes and scout locations that will make great shots. I look for big berms, jumps, vistas, unique terrain features, and any unique scenery near the trail. When I find a spot, I quickly walk around it viewing all angles. Once I have found one that I am happy with, I decide if I need flash. If I do, I either set a flash up, or call down one athlete to hold the flash in just the right spot. It's much easier to use athletes rather than clamps and extra gear. Then I visualize where the rider will be in the shot, and find the best way to frame the image. I fire a test shot just to make sure the spotty forest light is not fooling my sensor reading, and correct my settings if they were off.

I yell to the riders letting them know that I am ready, and tell them whether to send one athlete, or go in a line following closely. More riders create a more dynamic and unique image. This is something that most photographers forget when shooting individual sports. Just because it is an individual sport, does not mean that athletes don't ride together, or race each other! With my flash I will only fire one or two shots, and with a lot of practice, I have learned the right timing. Without it I shoot rapid-fire at 8 frames per second. By shooting so fast, I can guarantee that one of the images is the perfect moment!

There are many different ways to capture a shot, even from the same angle. I always try to use many different techniques throughout one shoot. These can include sequencing, zoom pull, pan, horizontal or vertical shots, different zoom lengths, and slow-sync flash. The more techniques you try, the more unique shots you can obtain from similar features.

I move as fast as I can with each location, and generally will not re-shoot a spot, even if the image came out wrong. It just takes too much time to send the riders all the way up to the start of the feature. During this shoot, the weather rolled in dramatically. We finished one run of shooting, and a MASSIVE thunderstorm and pouring rain shut down our operation. I took the crew to a pizza cafe where I captured photos of them eating, refilling drinks, looking out at the rain storm with disappointment, and standing in the doorways. You have to be creative when the elements are working against you! The stock agency is paying good money for a shoot like this, and they will be expecting LOTS of great and different photos. Fortunately, the storm cleared up, and we were able to make one more lap before the mountain closed. When we arrive back at the truck to head home, I like to try and capture a few more riding shots around the truck. These shots will range from wheelies, to splashing through a puddle, and posing with the bikes and gear on.

Even if you cannot find a company to commission a day shoot with you, it is well worth your time to arrange one and practice. Chances are you will capture some of the best shots so far in your career, shots that can help you land day shoots. Cavan Images is a brand new company, and they are looking for more photographers. You can reach them at www.cavanimages.com Just make sure to mention me as a reference!

Welcome to Allphotobuzz.com!!!

If you just found this site, great work!!! You are way ahead of the rest of the world!!

This site is going to be a great place to learn all aspects of amateur and professional photography. I will be posting stories from many of my action sports, lifestyle, and architectural shoots. You will also see diagrams that show my specific lighting techniques and how I capture a certain photo. There will be updates about the latest gear and photography trends, and links to photographers websites that are unique and inspirational. Also, lessons in photoshop will be well written and will take your photography to the next level. Through this site you can keep up with the life of a professional photographer, and learn the business along with me. Finally, I will talk about different methods of marketing, and business promotion.

ALL aspects of professional photography will be covered here!

To view my portfolio, please head on over to www.cnwphoto.com and check out some of my greatest work!

Thank You for visiting allphotobuzz.com, and please check back frequently for updates.

-Connor Walberg